In 1997 (if my math is correct) is the 50th Victory Bowl. Do you have any plans for the event al a NFL?

Side Note: in your graphic, it says "42nd Victory Bowl" when it should say 43rd.

Thanks for pointing out the bad label.

The 50th Victory Bowl (which will be in 1995) is going to be a big deal. First of all, unlike the NFL, the age of the league and of the championship game match, so that will also be the 50th season. There will obviously be huge ceremonies remembering the history of the game, but I haven't put too much thought into any of that yet. That will be the season that throwback uniforms are introduced, though, so that will be fun.

5 minutes ago, MBurmy said:

The Glads are back! I trust it'll get more interesting again really soon though.

S/N: Was there a post listing where Victory Bowl XLIII was played at? (if so, I think I missed it)

The North is going to be interesting next year: are the Gladiators finally ready to knock off the Guardians? As good as these two teams are, we could finally get that intradivisional Victory Bowl.

The Victory Bowl was in Arlington, TX, this year. Since the topic has been brought up: the next one will (surprisingly) be held at the Kanter Dome in Kansas City, KS; and the 45th will be at Miami's new stadium in Hollywood, FL.

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The Victory Bowl was in Arlington, TX, this year. Since the topic has been brought up: the next one will (surprisingly) be held at the Kanter Dome in Kansas City, KS; and the 45th will be at Miami's new stadium in Hollywood, FL.

>the next one will (surprisingly) be held at the Kanter Dome in Kansas City, KS

All I can say to this is I'll reference a certain quote by Dr. Krieger in Archer as I don't want to run afoul of the mods. It would probably take a *%)#ing miracle for the Crows to host it, but I must believe.

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I'll think about it. It's kind of messy right now with the divisions not being equal in size, so I might wait until the next expansion. Or maybe I'll just post the USFA one, which is much neater. Maybe I'll do the same thing with the player generation spreadsheet and the one that I use to progress players over time. Those are both actually far more complicated than the gameplay one anyway.

It wouldn't really work like that. It only works if the conditions match the current AFA exactly. 28 teams, no divisions, and the specific schedule rotation that I've chosen.

I'm interested in the 28 team version still, though I'm more than happy to wait until an even 32 team league, too...

As for running the individual leagues, I'm also interested in that... I'd take your base spreadsheet and modify it out a bit to run a league... it's kinda what I like doing.

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I'm interested in the 28 team version still, though I'm more than happy to wait until an even 32 team league, too...

As for running the individual leagues, I'm also interested in that... I'd take your base spreadsheet and modify it out a bit to run a league... it's kinda what I like doing.

Same as me. I'm mostly interested in how the spreadsheet handle the players/teams in terms of simulating games and seasons, not just this concrete league. Once I have the "simulation engine spreadsheet" I'd be more than happy to adapt it to my leagues/needs.

Hope we can get it!

Edit: If anyone knows about other "simulation spreadsheets" or want to share theirs that'd be cool too. Again, I'm mostly interested in that side of things rather than the info the spreadsheet contains in terms of history and all that. I want a base system to sim my fictional leagues, so I wouldn't be really exploring the data already in them but rather the "simulation engine". Thanks!

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So I am curious Veras, I don't know if you mentioned in earlier in this thread (I am to lazy to check) but do you have a favorite team? Is there a team you cant stand? When I was younger, I created teams on NCAA Football for Xbox and made my own league using just clip art pics for the most part. And I had some teams that I really hated (the Minnesota Black Bears were one of the most hated teams I had. They had a QB Tyrone Tyson who I just couldn't beat with my NJ Bulldogs). And of course there were some teams I really loved and wanted to succeed like the Chicago Flames (pretty much the TEN Titans since the Chicago Flag is a similar color scheme, just added a navy blue. I always think about bringing it back, but time is a luxury I dont have especially with a toddler.

Most of the USFA will change uniforms to get away from wearing dark colors, which I'll handle in one post. The Spiders will make a change to their color scheme as a part of that.

For the AFA, the Royals will probably make a change. I've been holding off until their new stadium is ready, but that keeps getting kicked down the road, so the time may be now. I haven't decided if others will make any changes. There will certainly be a few teams that move to the new uniform template, but so far, nothing as dramatic as what I have planned for Baltimore.

On 1/21/2018 at 11:34 AM, Cardinal said:

The league must be starting to get concerned about the recent VBs not being entertaining. Especialy with the new up abd coming league to deal with.

Yeah, Victory Bowls over the past 15 years or so have been rough. Only a few have been competitive since 1975 (30, 32, 34, and 35), and a couple of those were just ugly games. The 30th was the Broken Bones Bowl, which set records for injuries, and ended the career of RB Will Silver, who is still the only person in AFA history to rush for more than 2000 yards (and he did that in a 14-game season in which he wasn't even the starter on opening day). The 35th had a fairly exciting ending, but most of the game was hideous - there were multiple fights, it set records for penalties and penalty yardage, and the final score was 9-7.

On 1/21/2018 at 6:01 PM, EmeraldSpecter said:

I'm interested in the 28 team version still, though I'm more than happy to wait until an even 32 team league, too...

As for running the individual leagues, I'm also interested in that... I'd take your base spreadsheet and modify it out a bit to run a league... it's kinda what I like doing.

What I meant when I said that it's messy at 28 teams is that 1) there are things that I've learned from using it that I would change if I were to start from scratch, namely the way that game results are displayed, and 2) the schedule rotation is really awkward and formulas has to be changed every 6 and 10 years, and requires a triple nested VLOOKUP to determine nondivisional opponents.

My guess is that if you are capable of figuring out how it works just by examining the sheet, you are probably capable of writing a better one yourself.

That said, what I've decided to do is post the USFA one. It's far superior, and should be easier to use/adapt.

16 hours ago, cienpelusas said:

Same as me. I'm mostly interested in how the spreadsheet handle the players/teams in terms of simulating games and seasons, not just this concrete league. Once I have the "simulation engine spreadsheet" I'd be more than happy to adapt it to my leagues/needs.

Hope we can get it!

Edit: If anyone knows about other "simulation spreadsheets" or want to share theirs that'd be cool too. Again, I'm mostly interested in that side of things rather than the info the spreadsheet contains in terms of history and all that. I want a base system to sim my fictional leagues, so I wouldn't be really exploring the data already in them but rather the "simulation engine". Thanks!

When I was talking about being reluctant to share it because of the amount of work that I have put into it, I was talking about the engine. My methodology is simple, and I've shared it in the past. I've actually made a few videos to explain how the sheet worked when I first started out. To put it in perspective, the spreadsheet that I use to generate players is nearly 7 times larger than the ones that contains the league's entire history and the one that contains the rosters combined, and I don't use it to store data.

1 hour ago, officerpain138 said:

So I am curious Veras, I don't know if you mentioned in earlier in this thread (I am to lazy to check) but do you have a favorite team? Is there a team you cant stand? When I was younger, I created teams on NCAA Football for Xbox and made my own league using just clip art pics for the most part. And I had some teams that I really hated (the Minnesota Black Bears were one of the most hated teams I had. They had a QB Tyrone Tyson who I just couldn't beat with my NJ Bulldogs). And of course there were some teams I really loved and wanted to succeed like the Chicago Flames (pretty much the TEN Titans since the Chicago Flag is a similar color scheme, just added a navy blue. I always think about bringing it back, but time is a luxury I dont have especially with a toddler.

For the most part, no, but there are some exceptions. I have to admit that I'm a little partial to the Wolves, even though I actually don't like their identity. The color scheme and checkered pattern were supposed to be a temporary, 1 to 2 year thing. They were inspired by the Broncos brown and yellow with vertically-striped socks, which is one of the worst uniforms that I've ever seen. I also don't like their logos very much - my eyes play tricks on me with the primary, and I was never happy with the secondary. I was going to completely redesign them after a year or two, but it was all so well-received that I never did. So why do I like them? My surname is Wolf, and that apparently matters to me. I always root for the Seattle Gray Wolves in @hawkfan89's PHL, and I honestly don't know what would happen if the Pacers and Timberwolves met in the NBA Finals.

The only team that I don't like is the Atlanta Rebels, for obvious reasons.

There are some players to whom I am partial. Reggie Hart is the character that I almost always use in career modes in sports games, and I've been playing as him for at least 10 years, maybe 15. There are a handful of others who I have also used, some of which are already in the league. Donny Minor (QB - New Orleans) is the QB I play as when I want a pocket passer. Gabriel Rose (MLB - Milwaukee) is one of the best defensive players that I've ever made. Vic Meredith was a TE and one of my favorite players who I traded for in the most successful Madden Franchise that I've ever run (I won 9 Super Bowls in 10 years as the Lions, with all but one simulated. Joey Harrington was my QB, and worst starter).

I'll actually be introducing a few more of these guys in the next few years. The RB who was the heart and soul of the previously-mentioned Lions franchise and a corner whose backstory you'll all think was inspired by Aaron Hernandez (even though I wrote it probably 14 years ago) will enter the league in the 1990s. I'll also be introducing the Moss family before too long, a large family from the Texas Panhandle that could send as many as 6 sons to the AFA. I don't consider this a spoiler because the two eldest brothers have already attracted national attention (and few of them are likely to be stars in the AFA). Adam Moss will be a red shirt freshman QB at Texas A&M next year, and Hunter Moss, a senior in high school, is the top-rated wideout in the country. Twins David and Brian Moss are the next best players on the team (both play WR and CB), and they're going to be sophomores. Oh, and their 16-year old sister, Cindi, is the best girls soccer player in the state.

I can't wait for those story lines. The uniform and graphic design has always been top-notch in the AFA, but it's really the storytelling that keeps me coming back and waiting on the edge of my seat for more.

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Veras, love this thread more than anything here. As always, the designs are great, but the best thing is the rich history of the league. I really appreciate when people ask you questions about the league, you have a whole history to share.

Veras, love this thread more than anything here. As always, the designs are great, but the best thing is the rich history of the league. I really appreciate when people ask you questions about the league, you have a whole history to share.

Cheers.

Thanks for the kind words.

Responding to questions is actually one of my favorite parts of the project. It makes me consider things that I never would have thought of otherwise (questions of media contracts, for example), and gives me reason to dive into statistical questions that I wouldn't have noticed on my own. Feedback from members of these boards have not only helped me grow as a designer, they've made this league (that would otherwise only have exited in my head) much deeper.

On 1/27/2018 at 12:28 PM, MR. 3G said:

Since it’s occurring today, I figured I’d ask. Are there any equivalents to the Senior Bowl in the AFA universe? And for that matter, same for the NFL Combine...

Yep. They even have the same names. The Senior Bowl has been played since 1948, while the Combine began in 1984. The star of this year's Senior Bowl was Gregg Barbossa (RB-Texas), who scored two touchdowns, including an 83 yard reception on a screen pass.

After having played through one full summer in mostly dark uniforms, several USFA teams opted to change up their looks in an effort to make their players more comfortable. The result is that a league that explicitly discouraged the use of white on uniforms in 1988 would make heavy use of it in 1989.

The only team to undergo a full rebrand was the San Jose Spiders. Having an identity that utilized only black and white made it difficult for them to avoid dark jerseys, so they switched things up, adding a light blue to the color scheme. The football at the center of the logo was also enlarged, as as to be more visible when used on the uniform. The old logo and uniforms can be seen here.

The new uniforms are wild, even by the standards of the USFA. They're the first professional football uniforms to utilize gradients (they were inspired by the 1990s Atlanta Hawks unis, though they bear a strong, albeit coincidental, resemblance to the Chicago Frost of @ItDoesntMatter's National Dashball League). The expand the old spider web motif to the helmet, and the stripe on the pants is meant to look like a spider hanging from a strand. Though the uniforms are met with mixed reviews, the socks are extremely popular and sell better than any other merchandise offered by the team.

Most of the other changes were minor, with a switch to white pants being the most common modification. In fact, that was the entirety of the changes made by the Brooklyn Privateers and Utah Pioneers. The defending champion Louisville Brawlers did the same, and also changed their helmet color from black to white; while the Carolina Cyborgs switched to white with their primary (red) jersey and added a white alternate, but kept their dark blue pants with the grey secondary jersey.

The most substantial change outside of San Jose came in Oklahoma City. In the USFA's first season, the Reapers had worn as little white as possible. However, after a year of playing in the brutal OKC summer, they reversed course. The switched to white helmets and pants for all of their uniforms, and significantly altered the details of the uniform. They now have a unique helmet stripe that is as wide as the bumper with a significant amount space between the stripes. The pattern on the socks and pants changed, and outlines were added to all text and numbers. Probably the most significant change was that he skull sleeve stripe was better integrated into the uniforms, which will provide a more intimidating look (honestly, this is probably too modern, but I like it too much not to use it - the white jersey is probably my favorite that I've ever done).

Edited February 2 by VerasI somehow skipped posting the new San Jose uniform.